Audacious

Chapter 14: Escape Plan

Kiera POV
   We congregate around an eleven by eight piece of paper and begin scribbling ideas for a proficient rescue and escape plan. People began shouting and hollering all around me, but the only way of me knowing, is the rapid movement of their mouths. My ears however, hear nothing but silence. My face, dreary and hopeless, sags in discouragement. They have no idea how much I am craving to hear, not even anything in particular, just sound. I already miss the sound of classical music, swimming through the cool air throughout my house, filling the calm, tired rooms with life and purpose. Now the rooms are filled with nothing but dusty knickknacks that were given to my father and mother over the years. I miss my mother's voice as she sings to me, gently combing my hair. She always sang my favorite song, Sunshine In The River. Sometimes she'd even just continuously repeat the first verse, my favorite one.
The sunlight gleams through the clouds,far from heaven, close to ground.The flowers bloom, the air so clean.Sunshine shining closer to me.
And then the chorus,
Sunshine in the river,sunshine in the forest.Light shines through the clouds above,Lighting the faces below.
   Something about the lyrics and even just the way she sang it gave me a sense of security and love. I look at my mothers torn face, wide, sagging eyes, dry mouth, flushed face. I wonder if that's how it looked after she hadn't seen me return to her with opened arms, gone away with what she saw as putrid death seekers. I think about how much she cared and loved me, and how well she raised me. I feel ashamed to hug her knowing that all I have shown in return is disrespect. Hopefully someday I will be able to repay her in a reasonable way, showing how much I truly respect her and how grateful I have been all of these years.
   After a moment of thought, I notice that everyone is off their knees and most of them are moving to the other side of the building. I am startled as I see Jace and my mother's face appear in front of mine. Jace is helping me to my feet as my mother shouts something to him with a smile. My mother was always a fan of Jace. Even as a young boy, he always helped out around the house. He offered to help cook, clean and even wash clothes. My mother was always grateful to have a helping hand around the house and I can tell she's more than happy to have him now.
   Jace carries me around the side of the building and we hide next to a nearby entrance, obviously avoiding guards. Jace sets me down and nods to me. He pecks me on the cheek and then runs into the crashing building. I look at my mother with wide eyes and she smiles and nods, assuring me that everything is okay. I curl into a ball and pray for about two minutes that he'll be okay and as I finish, I feel warm arms surround me. The feeling is so reassuring and loving that I am reluctantly forced to let go when I am put back on my feet. I grab Jace's hand, not wanting it to end so soon and he squeezes my hand. I force out a quick "thank you" and once again, his smile melts my heart.
As he navigates me into the building I step over six bodies. All gunshot wounds are in the rib, arm or leg. Jace would never kill anyone. My heart races as we duck under burning ceilings and jump over exploding bodies.
   Of course I chose the one sector that could be the end of me. Of course our plane crashes. Of course the closest sector was Sector 1. Of course the day we arrive, they are attacked. Of course it was all my fault.
I slip out of Jace's grip and sprint ahead. With my hearing gone, my vision is better than ever. In the corner of my eye I see the roof start to cave is so I move to the right. I hurl myself over a fiery table and land in a somersault. Once I am on my feet again, I look back at Jace who seems to be completely in awe with this girl that he had never seen before. I smile and race ahead. Once I reach an intersection that leads to different corridors I realize that although I cleared the path for everyone, I have no clue where we are going, due to my impaired hearing.
   Jace races up to my side and grabs my wrist, pulling me towards the grand staircase. That's when I realize where we are going. We had forgotten a few people.
   Running up the staircase is more difficult than one would expect. I must loom my body around bodies and flames that surround the wall and pour down like fiery waterfalls about to shower its fury on innocent bystanders. The walls cry out in pain, yearning for some peace. The flowery wallpaper is shriveled and burnt, creating a painful and quite disgusting aroma of smoke, filling my lungs. I cough until my chest hurts and Jace grabs my arm, holding me up before I fall down the dangerous staircase.
   I imagine the deafening and terrifying sounds coming from the crackling walls and firing guns. For once, I am grateful that I cannot hear the deadly surroundings. We finally reach the peek of  the stairs and I bend my knees, resting my hands on my thighs and take a few deep breaths. My lungs are exhausted and filled with smoke and I begin to get light headed. I look up at Jace who's face is tired but more worried. I wave him away, implying that I am alright. He smiles at me and I stand up again, ready to move forward.
   Jace leads me into a small, cinder block built room with no windows making it dark and full of shadows. I immediately inhale a large amount of dust and my body is very unhappy with me. At first, I'm confused what we are here for. Then I see two bodies, tied and chained up to large gas pipes that emerge from the ground. I move closer, tip-toeing because I'm not so sure who is there.
   A few steps closer I see another Jace and another Kiera, their legs and arms looped around each other and their moths covered, eyes shut. I look to Jace for an explanation but the only response is a look of confusion overpowered by fear.
   Here we go again.